title: Natural occurrence of aflatoxins from maize in Iran.
abstract: Fifty-one maize samples, intended for animal feed and human consumption, were collected from the four main maize production provinces in Iran and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for contamination by four naturally occurring aflatoxin analogues (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2). AFB1 was detected in 58.3, and 80% of the maize samples obtained from Kermanshah and Mazandaran provinces, respectively. The maximum AFB1 (276.3 μg/kg) and highest level of total aflatoxins (AFT) (316.9 μg/kg) were detected in a maize sample collected from Kermanshah province. The mean aflatoxin level from contaminated samples (52.60 μg/kg) from Kermanshah was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) than those in maize from the other three provinces and exceeded all the maximum tolerated levels (MTLs) set for AFT in maize. The level of AFB1 in 15.68% of the total samples was above the MTL (5 μg/kg) for AFB1 in maize in Iran. The mean contamination level of AFT (23.86 μg/kg) in the positive samples was higher than MTL for maize in Iran (20 μg/kg) intended for animal feed. The levels of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2 ranged between not detected (<0.1 μg/kg) and 276.3, 30.4, 9.1, and 1.1 μg/kg in maize grain, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Medical Parasitology and Mycology Department, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Hamadan, Iran. s.a.ghiasian@umsha.ac.ir
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ghiasian
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Shephard
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yazdanpanah
mesh_terms: D000348:Aflatoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D059022:Food Safety / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000348:Aflatoxins